Heart Forsaken
by Ivangalyne
Summary: As a tribute to Katherine Pierce; a young, exiled Bulgarian girl's story. Story of heartbreak and love and shattered hope. The story of a strong woman and the story of heartfelt revenge. AU ending. Not a happy ending! Might contain triggers. Implied rape/non-con.


She had lived five centuries on the run. Even while she ran and compelled whole towns, she had enjoyed life. Through all that, Katherine Pierce lived and fought and survived, for, Katerina Petrova was fragile. She broke and gave her life to Katherine Pierce, for revenge, to avenge herself- her past self- and so Katherine ran. Forming allies, not friends, falling in lust, but never love- her bruised, battered and torn heart was now ruined beyond repair.

All because of him. She had trusted him with her heart. The heart that survived in the middle of the Ottoman's empire. The heart that had survived when her father had beat her mercilessly in a drunken stupor. The heart she protected by hiding numerous daggers in her skirts and jabbing it into the side of any man who tried to take her. The heart that got bruised when those men cornered her in the town. The heart that got a little more bruised when her father- Lord Petrova himself- slapped her for _shaming_ their family. Never mind that the men had forced themselves on her- done _unmentionable_ things to her. She lived under scorn and insults- harlot, tramp, whore- for nine months before she gave birth. Her sweet daughter who had come into the world through pain and heartbreak and _love_. The daughter who was ripped from her before she ever even got to hold the little wonder.

Still her heart- so strong, so full of love- bruised and battered forgave her parents- her father. Even after he exiled her to lands of where she knew no knowledge, no language, no custom.

She learnt. She learnt and erased her history- went on with her strong heart. Then she met them- the Mikaelson Lords. And she fell in love- she gave her battered and bruised heart to the noble lord believing he would treasure it, protect it. Except he tore it. Took the sharp blade of manipulation through it- and so she ran. Ran without stealing her heart back- for stealing her heart would surely mean losing her life. However, without her heart she wasn't Katerina- she could never be. For Katerina her strength was her heart- but what she was now had lost her heart. So she manipulated without feeling guilt and then ran, never looking back. Months later she was back in Bulgaria- searching for her daughter- believing that her daughter might enable her to grow a new heart- but when she saw her family, that hope died a sudden, painful death. So, she cried- not for family but for herself, for what she lost. Still not giving up- she searched far and wide- every town, every village, every cottage- but she found nothing.

And then she shattered. As she lay dying, she thought of her last wish- vengeance – she would avenge her death. And now, realization sinking in- she ran- and ran and ran. Never stopping, never breathing.

And then, as a last act of revenge against her father, she went to the catholic church- because Katerina forgave her father for she had a heart, what she was now had no heart, and thus had no forgiveness, only vengeance. She went and converted- compelled the father- and anglicized her name. Now the heartless creature had a name- Katherine Pierce. The creature who had risen from the ashes of a beautifully bright human- a _dead_ human. Katherine Pierce was no human- she was no monster either. She was a creature who knew no right nor wrong, no black no white. She saw all shades of grey and her only motives were survival, and when the circumstances permitted it- vengeance.

And now- five hundred years later- she became a human in flesh again. She schemed, manipulated and lied- the baby vampires actually believing she would die- but she never would. Katherine Pierce always had a way- it was a fact- just like the fact that even dead witches loved their successors. Later, the Bennett witch thought that after 541 years of evading and teasing death, she had gone to hell- but, she was Katherine Pierce. She was the Queen- the ultimate power- she would never not have a plan. She always had a plan A and then a plan B and then a plan C and then so on. So while they thought that her daughter had found peace, she lived on safely, while Katherine let the dagger stab her.

The witches on the other side knew. Knew that if Katherine was not sent back the minute a new hole tore in the veil, their family names would end, their descendants dying quick deaths one after the other. Because Katherine could not die- she had to avenge Katerina- Katerina, who still lived on- peeking out hopefully every time her noble lord came, peeking out in hopes that her lord would show her the lost heart- healed and healthy. But he never did, and slowly Katerina started losing hope. But she truly died that day when her lord never even came to say goodbye. There was no goodbye or smile or kind words on her death bed. Only scorn and insults.

So, Katherine waited, and when the veil tore open in New Orleans she ran there, and then she was back in the living realm. She cared not of the current circumstances of New Orleans even though she knew that her lord was there, because on the other side, she saw. She saw him falling in love with the werewolf and saw how little he cared for her. She saw everything. And then she hardened because even in death Katherine was strong.

So when the mass killing of the wolves happened and the rip was big enough for her to squeeze through- she did. And voila- here she was, in the crescent city. But she knew- she had no time. So she did what she knew best- she ran. To her daughter who was on an island safe and sound with bags upon bags of the recent human Katherine's blood. The cure. Her bargaining chip, stored under the best safety- human safes, spells, traveler magic all united to keep her advantage safe. Because, Katherine Pierce saw all angles and she made all plans.

Katherine knew she was now something special- not vampire, not traveler, not human. She knew that witches would call her abomination- monster- but she was Katherine. She was conceived with scorns and insults and she had died with them. They were lullabies to her- a reminder how far she had come from the girl whose heart bled love. Because Katherine never forgot that terror. The terror Katerina felt when she realized that all those moments with her lord were lies. She never 'switched it off', because fear was her strength. Fear made her leave everything behind and run. Fear helped her survive for five centuries.

Katerina had still lived and forced herself out at points, she had held out whatever shreds were left in place of her heart again for her lord, because even though she knew she was a peasant now, she still believed he would- a prince would- take her. He took those leftover shreds and then stamped over them in front of her eyes.

"Because I meant what I said . . . about my feelings for you. And I'd like to think that you feel something for me too. I need you to trust me. I want you to trust me, just like I'm trusting you. You don't owe me anything. I'm going to let you decide where we go from here."

So now she would make them pay. She would wreck her vengeance and she would destroy the Mikaelson family. For they had destroyed her. So she run to her daughter, made sure she was safe, the cure was safe. Grabbed one syringe full of it carefully wrapped in packaging and went straight back to New Orleans.

And that was how she sat in the bar she knew the Originals visited often. She sat with her legs crossed and a glass of bourbon in her hand as she waited for one of them to show up. And then they showed up, both of them. The brothers who had ruined her. And she smirked. She saw Klaus raise his had to grip her throat, and then she slipped it out of her pocket and held it out in her hand.

After a conversation full of broken tables, threats, yelling and sass, she had everything Katherine had ever wanted. Freedom, life and safety. But, vengeance was still left and so she used one of her last blood bags left after the deal (she still had fifteen left because she knew that there were nine originals and all of them reused to stay dead for any amount of time) and secured a conversation with him. Elijah. Elijah who had sat there staring at her all throughout the conversation. Because he was no longer her lord.

Klaus refused to leave but he sat there with a smirk on his face- as if he would be seeing Katherine break. But she knew- she would break Elijah first, and then in the safety of her home, she would deal with herself. Her façade and masks and Katerina and Katherine. He opens his mouth to say something and then closes it again. She had ever been the only one to fluster him.

And so not giving him a chance to speak, she said, "I gave you my heart, Milord. My heart, my trust my love and you shattered them all. Stamped them under your heel and then threw away the mess. I gave you my heart, Milord, and you _murdered_ it. You call Katherine a monster, but you created her when you killed Katherine."

He opened his mouth to say something again, when she took out a dagger. The dagger she had used five centuries ago to kill her attackers, the blade that was christened in revenge and soaked in blood. She took it and jabbed it into his side. And then she lent in and said, "You are no better than them, in fact you are worse. At least they never returned to torture or mock me, you did. They did not break me. You did. Congratulations, Milord. You broke Katerina Petrova. And then she ripped out the dagger and tucked it back under her shirt, tucked into her waistband. She jabbed her hand into his heart and tore it out. When Klaus moved to stop her. She pointed the syringe towards him and he sat back down. His expression one of furious thunder. But she did not care. She waited with the heart in her hand while Klaus got his brother blood to help in the healing. When he was healed and back on his feet, Katerina threw down his heart and then stepped her stiletto covered, manicured foot on it. The pointed bottom piercing- Katherine Pierce- his heart which ruptured it and caused a sea of blood. And then in a voice reminiscent of saying 'Zdraveĭ, gospodaryu', she said, "Sbogom, Iliya". All the while he looked at her and when she said those words, his face tugged at her newly returned heartstrings, but she stayed strong and ignored the outstretched hand attempting to stop her, and turned around.

And she walked away with her head held high. Because Katherine Pierce never dies. Because Katherine Pierce was the strength of Katerina Petrova and Katerina Petrova was the strength of Katherine Pierce. Katherine or Katerina whoever she would decide to be, would not run anymore. Because, she had her heart back. Her bruised, battered and torn heart.

Katherine Pierce lived and survived and therefore, was the ultimate queen. The ultimate survivor.

* * *

 _ **Translations:**_

Zdraveĭ, gospodaryu - Hello, Milord

Sbogom, Iliya - Farewell, Elijah

* * *

 ** _Author's note:_**

RIP Queen Katherine.

All the works I've read portray Katherine as the devil, the manipulator and Elijah as the one who returned to her through all the heartbreak and evil she dished out.

I want people to see her as I do. As the survivor. Because her character deserves it. The character which did not break even in the toughest of times. I wish I could be as strong. She is an ideal for struggling girls throughout the world. And so, again I say (type):

RIP Queen Katherine.


End file.
